Leeds United deal with Sam Allardyce has clarity as Whites employ 'bucket of cold water' treatment - YEP 3/5/23

The terms of Javi Gracia's Leeds United deal were never explicitly stated but no one needs any clarification as to Sam Allardyce's remit.

By Graham Smyth

Gracia was brought in to replace Jesse Marsch, although not straight away. The Spaniard's appointment came after a period of time spent chasing targets who never felt particularly obtainable, while Under 21s coach Michael Skubala took caretaker charge.

It was the club's initial feeling, once they had been rebuffed by the likes of Andoni Iraola, Arne Slot and Marcelo Gallardo, then hastily abandoned any consideration of Alfred Schreuder following fanbase uproar, that Skubala might be the man to lead the club beyond his initial two games against Manchester United.

The thinking was that Skubala could take the team to Everton, host Southampton and then if the search for a permanent solution was still ongoing, remain in charge. A 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park put paid to that plan, Gracia sweeping into Thorp Arch three days later and setting straight to work with another man's squad.

He agreed what the club called a 'flexible' deal, most taking that to mean until the end of the season. It mattered little to the former Malaga and Watford man what the piece of paper said, in any case.

"Maybe you stay one game or maybe you stay one life," he quipped in one of his press conferences. They were, often, jovial affairs and while Gracia did not like to give much away, if anything at all, he never once shirked a question. Gracia, translated into English, means grace and even as a false dawn gave way to the kind of nightmare that was perhaps inevitable for whoever inherited this misshapen squad, he showed plenty of it.

Leeds United has proved too much club for a number of men but for Gracia, whose three wins have at least kept the Whites in the fight and out of the drop zone, it started to look like too much of a mess. There's little shame in that when so many fingers can point at so many others when it comes to blame.

As Gracia's grip on proceedings weakened through heavy defeats and an inability to get the right results from must-win games, the remit was removed from him and placed in another.

Step forward Allardyce. Fireman Sam, if you will, who strides into Elland Road to find the whole thing ablaze. The ownership picture and impending takeover is surrounded by the thick smoke of potential relegation and its consequences. The rebuke of the Supporters Advisory Board was a spark. Andrea Radrizzani fiddling, with his phone, while the fanbase burns. His direct message to a fan, decrying the performance and situation, only enflamed the mood further. Victor Orta, gone, succumbing to the fume. The lot has gone up.

A complicated club at the best of times, Leeds is a mess. At the very least Allardyce represents clarity, that ethereal concept Marsch was so struck on, because Leeds see this is a four-game cameo. Of course he might see it another way, he might look beyond the £2.5m bonus Leeds will reportedly up if he completes his rescue mission, and see a longer spell of employment.

There are no promises on that front, not from the boardroom, not when the meltdown over Schreuder's consideration is still so fresh in memories. Whether or not you think Leeds can do better than Allardyce either as a Championship or Premier League club, this has been clearly laid out as a short-term, temporary measure. It's a hit and hope for Leeds and a free hit for Allardyce, whose role in it all will hardly feature in the final analysis. Besides, he's teflon isn't he? That's how he comes across, at least.

Few would have taken this job, a hiding to nothing. Allardyce has been out of work for two years, since his first ever Premier League relegation and a West Brom job that was perhaps doomed from the start. The Baggies, it should be noted, wanted him to stay because the feeling was that he made a difference. He's got just four games with Leeds and all they need is a different result, probably two, to stay in the Premier League. It's not a new project, it's not even a tactical reversal, it's a bucket of cold water.

How it goes and how the squad responds is anyone's guess. His arrival will not unite the fanbase and nor will it soothe their burning ire but no one will look away. Stand well back, Big Sam is going in.